Hebron — Kyle Zeppieri was told prior to Saturday's game that his hands "looked really sharp."

Uh, what?

"That's a pretty rare comment," said Zeppieri, a senior linebacker at Ledyard High School, while trying to conceal a smile. "New gloves. That's what it is. New gloves."

Zeppieri, sharp hands and all, intercepted a screen pass and returned it for a 10-yard touchdown late in the first half of the Colonels' 48-8 thumping of RHAM.

It was Zeppieri's interception that set off the biggest celebration on Ledyard's sideline on a day in which the Colonels had a number of big plays.

"Every practice we run that play," teammate River Thomas said. "It's a middle screen, he's there, and he drops it every time. So this time he pulled it together and actually caught it, so everybody was happy and ran to him."

Zeppieri said, "It's pretty much known to the team that I don't have the greatest hands. It's pretty much known by everyone, so that was a really exciting moment. I'm pretty glad it happened on my opening game for senior year. That's pretty cool."

Defense was Ledyard's concern this season as it knew would have no trouble scoring with the likes of quarterback Ty Ebdon, running back JoJo Shumaker, and receivers Leo Clinton and Phyllip and River Thomas.

The Colonels led 48-0 at halftime, setting off the running clock for the second half.

Ledyard had 356 yards offense in the first half. The Sachems had just 17.

"Our preseason went very well in terms of being able to score points very quickly," Colonels' coach Jim Buonocore said. "Defensively, we were probably a little bit behind, and typically it's usually the reverse. Your defense is typically ahead of your offense, so that was kind of something different for us.

"We've obviously focused on that more so over the course of the last week, and I thought defensively we played very well today."

Senior Rashan Young had two of Ledyard's six sacks, one of which forced a fumble that junior teammate Michael Leandri recovered at the RHAM 38. The Colonels scored two plays later.

Juniors Mitchell Hempstead and Jeffery O'Hanlon, Shumaker and Zeppieri each added a sack.

"Our defense, I thought, was the weaker point of our team," River Thomas said. "I thought the defense really stepped it up today."

Thomas had five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Phyllip Thomas added a 25-yard touchdown catch.

Ebdon completed 10 of 14 passes for 180 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

Shumaker had 8 carries for 120 yards and three scores. That included a 64-yard run that gave Ledyard a 20-0 lead with over five minutes left in the first quarter.

The Sachems' Connor Griffin returned the second-half kickoff for an 84-yard touchdown.

"We did what we do, which is put up points fairly quickly and put the game to rest, and that's what we were looking for," Buonocore said. "We wanted to put this game to bed early."

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED